PLYMOUTH – Though they have more than 40 years of head coaching experience in northern Indiana between them, Bart Curtis and John Barron had never met on the football field.
Their first coaching matchup – which was the 99th meeting between longtime rivals Warsaw and Plymouth – will probably be talked about for a long time.
In the Northern Lakes Conference opener for both teams, Barron’s Plymouth Rockies stopped Curtis’ Warsaw Tigers on 4th down from the 1-yard line in overtime, and then kicked a 25-yard field goal on 4th-and-8 on their ensuing possession to pull out a 32-29 win Friday at The Rockpile.
Friday’s game featured four lead changes, big plays in all three phases of the game, a span of 48 seconds that saw the teams combine for 20 points, and plenty of other subplots.
“I think everybody got their money’s worth and then some, what a football game,” said Barron, whose team improved to 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in the NLC.
“It’s a testament ... I mean, their kids never gave up, true to Bart’s form. I’ve never coached against Bart, so trying to figure out how he’s play-calling was tough. And once they got the lead, we had to use some timeouts just to get them off the field. But I’m very proud of our kids’ resiliency as well.”
Trailing 23-21 with 1:46 remaining in the game, Plymouth quarterback Joe Barron – the coach’s son – turned a high snap in shotgun formation and what looked like a broken play into a 3-yard touchdown run.
The Rockies went for a 2-point conversion, hoping for a 29-23 lead, and Blake Reed’s conversion run turned out to be huge for Plymouth the way things played out.
Rather than needing just six points for the win, the Tigers needed to respond with a touchdown and the extra-point kick to pull out a win in regulation.
Warsaw got the touchdown when senior quarterback Josh West moved the team 62 yards in four plays, capping the lightning-quick drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Luke Adamiec.
As if the game hadn’t already produced twists and turns, Warsaw’s extra-point attempt hit the left upright and fell to the ground, leaving the teams knotted at 29-29 with 44 seconds remaining the fourth quarter.
Plymouth started its next possession on the 20-yard line after a touchback, but chose to take a knee twice and take its chances in overtime.
Warsaw was on offense first in the overtime session, which starts at the 10-yard line and doesn’t include a game clock.
Kane Dawson rushed for three yards on the Tigers’ first play.
West was stopped for no gain on 2nd down.
Blake Marsh, who caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from West late in the third quarter to give Warsaw a 23-21 lead, ran for six yards on 3rd down, setting up 4th-and-1.
Plymouth’s defense then kept West out of the endzone on a quarterback keeper.
On the Rockies’ first offensive play in overtime, the Tigers jumped offsides, moving the ball to the 5-yard line.
Reed lost three yards on a run, followed by back to back incomplete passes.
Junior Dylan Gamble then got to wear the hero’s cape when he kicked the game-winning 25-yard field on 4th-and-8 that gave the Rockies their 13th win in the last 16 meetings with the Tigers.
Warsaw trailed 14-3 at one point, but Eli Owen returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, and then the Tigers recovered a Plymouth fumble and turned it into a touchdown, though the extra-point kick missed, for a 16-14 halftime lead.
Penalties – 12 of them for 106 yards – and missed opportunities didn’t sit well with Curtis, Warsaw’s first-year coach.
“Oh sure, we had chances. They had chances, too. That’s football,” said Curtis. “Somebody wins, somebody loses. So yeah, we had chances.
“It just kind of broke open and got wild. We didn’t win. We’re not gonna make excuses, we’re not gonna blame officials, we’re not gonna pout, we’re not gonna act like idiots if things don’t go our way. We’re gonna buck up like young men. We’re gonna take it and move on, and prepare for next week.
“Here’s the deal ... we had chances, and again, we didn’t finish drives. But we competed and played hard, and that’s what I wanted out of it.”
Dawson carried the ball 26 times for 80 yards, while West tallied 78 yards on 21 attempts.
West completed 4 of 5 pass attempts for 84 yards, and also caught a 35-yard pass from Wyatt Amiss.
For Plymouth, Reed had 89 yards on 24 carries, and Garrett Schrameyer caught three passes for 87 yards, included a 48-yard touchdown strike from Barron that gave the Rockies a 14-3 lead late in the second quarter.
Warsaw is in action again Friday when it hosts Elkhart Memorial. Plymouth travels to Northridge in Week 4.
